Shakira - Personal Life

Personal Life

Shakira is a native Spanish speaker who speaks fluent English and Portuguese, as well as some Italian, French, and Catalan. Shakira is a Roman Catholic, and met Pope John Paul II in 1998. She is interested in world history, and she frequently studies the history and languages of the countries she visits. After her Oral Fixation tour ended in the summer of 2007, Shakira attended a summer school class in Los Angeles at UCLA Extensions, where she took courses in History of Western Civilization. She used her middle and last names, Isabel Mebarak, and told the professor she was visiting from Colombia so as to avoid being recognized as a celebrity. Shakira is a cousin of model and 2005–2006 Miss Colombia, Valerie Domínguez. In an interview on The Paul O'Grady Show, she referred to herself as a mutt due to her diverse ancestry, which she noted as a theme behind her song "Gypsy".